Ralph Stantley Movies

On a boiling hot night in the middle of a steaming New York summer, Detective Mike Reardon is on his way to work when he is shot down execution style. His fellow officers at the 87th, led by detectives Steve Carelli (Robert Loggia) and Mike Maguire (Gerald S. O'Laughlin), can't come up with a motive. The investigation has barely started when Reardon's young partner Foster is ambushed and gunned down as well. Carelli and Maguire are the lead investigators on the double police homicide, tracing potential suspects and following up clues that all lead to blind alleys. Meanwhile, Miller, a reporter, does some investigating on his own and nearly gets a young detective killed by a street gang led by smart-mouthed punk Joe Sanchez (Jerry Orbach). Amid this chaos, Carelli tries to carry on a romance with a deaf-mute author named Teddy (Ellen Parker) and Maguire attempts not to neglect his wife too badly. Maguire is gunned down by the same shooter that killed the other two detectives, only he makes sure the killer leaves behind a few clues before he dies. Carelli can't make the pieces fit together -- the only thing that the three victims had in common was that they worked in the 87th Precinct and they were all cops. He begins wondering if the fact that they were all police officers was relevant to the killings, but not the motive. Looking for a story, Miller reports Carelli's private suppositions, suddenly putting Teddy in jeopardy. Not knowing that the shooter is a step ahead of him, the detective races to her home. Carelli breaks the case and discovers that only one of the murders had an actual motive, one much closer to home than anyone on the squad would ever have guessed. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

Coley Wallace plays the title role in The Joe Louis Story. Told in flashback, the film recounts the pugilistic career of "the Brown Bomber" from the early 1930s to his misguided comeback attempt opposite Rocky Marciano in 1951. The film's high point is Louis' defeat of Germany's Max Schmeling; its low point (dramatically, not quality-wise) is the breakup of Louis's marriage. Evidently for legal reasons, most of the character names in the film are fictional. Many of the fight scenes are culled from footage of the real Louis in action. Though the "race" angle in The Joe Louis Story is downplayed, Louis is treated on an equal par with the white characters, which resulted in the film being banned in certain Southern regions back in 1953. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

For their film O Brother, Where Art Thou?, set in the American South during the 1930s, filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen collaborated with musician, songwriter, and producer T-Bone Burnett to compile a score that reflected the rich variety of musical influences of the rural South during the Depression. Burnett brought together a veritable who's who of American roots music for the project, and while the film was a moderate success, the soundtrack album to O Brother, Where Art Thou? was a surprise hit, topping the country charts for several weeks and helping to open the ears of a new audience to the beauty and rough-hewn poetry of bluegrass, traditional country, rural blues, and gospel music. Shortly before the film's release, Burnett assembled many of the artists who appeared on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack for a special concert at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium (the original home of the Grand Ole Opry) to benefit the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum; the evening was filmed, and Down From the Mountain documents this very special night of music that celebrates America's musical past as it points to the future. Performers include Emmylou Harris, Dr. Ralph Stanley, Alison Krauss, the Cox Family, the Fairfield Four, the Whites, Chris Thomas King, and Gillian Welch. Holly Hunter, one of the stars of O Brother, makes a cameo appearance, as does noted country music enthusiast Billy Bob Thornton. Songwriter, musician, and historian John Hartford served as master of ceremonies for the concert (and the film); sadly, he died after a long bout with cancer less than two weeks before Down From the Mountain premiered in New York and Nashville in June 2001. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide